


The Forest Tomorrow

by EvaEveSteve



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Future Fic, M/M, Mutant Powers, Original Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:13:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24862861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvaEveSteve/pseuds/EvaEveSteve
Summary: "They started out with small groups of teenagers to teach, one small test group in every country, rich as poor. Children from all social groups, and to begin with these were taught the idea of the new future. Of course, if this would have been known to the public it would have been seen as brainwashing and perhaps even a cult, or that's what many of the protesters have tried to inform everyone for ages. However, this process would slowly be set into the public mindset. The small groups of teenagers expanded and were slowly introduced to other students the same age and quickly the idea became appealing to the new generation everywhere."The group of 13 boys must find a way to live with themselves without going crazy while they're looked inside the big facility, The Main. Knowing that they one day must survive on their own in the shadow of the elders, not risking contact with the government once they escape. However, there's a risk that the small evolutionary difficulties might make the plan more difficult.....
Relationships: Boo Seungkwan & Chwe Hansol | Vernon, Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Lee Chan | Dino, Hong Jisoo | Joshua/Lee Seokmin | DK, Jeon Wonwoo/Wen Jun Hui | Jun, Kim Mingyu/Xu Ming Hao | The8, Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Lee Jihoon | Woozi
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

_ “Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of the second depression. We still mourn all the lost ones, and will not forget..” _

The radio was blasting full-on in the abandoned parking lot. The small wooden box it was standing upon soon to be demolished, together with the concrete underneath and the rest of the outside world. 

“Soon it will all stand as new,” Joshua mocked as he took a swing from the soda bottle he had snatched from the kitchen. 

“Soon we will begin again” Soonyoung filled in, with more mockery, if that was possible. 

The small beach chairs they had found would not be there again as they exited the facility the next time, neither would the small shed that they used as their ‘club room’. Nothing would be the same when they stepped out of the white building again, nothing except for the forests and the overall nature. 

“It's bullshit if you think about it” Hansol stated as he took the soda from Joshua's hands leaving him with an offended facial expression. “I mean it's good and all, you know to fix all of humanity's mistakes” he continued as he motioned towards the soon to be abandoned city, only a few kilometers away from their current position. “But why would they only let some of us live to see the ‘new world’” the blond proceed as he made air quotes on the word ‘new world’. 

This had been a conversation topic between all people for over a decade. Big protesting organizations had formed but had crumbled as fast as they were established. Even if individuals wanted to stand up for themselves they still knew, deep down, that it would have no result. They were doomed either way. The “construction” plan, as it was called, had been discussed for decades, and became reality during the year 2000 when scouts walked the streets and tried to find the future, that is the younger generation. These teenagers and children had to do everything to show their worth to society while growing up. Find special skills and improve them. They had been taught by their parents that they were the future, the world's only hope, and they had to act like it. 

They started out with small groups of teenagers to teach, one small test group in every country, rich as poor. Children from all social groups, and to begin with these were taught the idea of the new future. Of course, if this would have been known to the public it would have been seen as brainwashing and perhaps even a cult, or that's what many of the protesters have tried to inform everyone for ages. However, this process would slowly be set into the public mindset. The small groups of teenagers expanded and were slowly introduced to other students the same age and quickly the idea became appealing to the new generation everywhere. 

“I mean we're lucky” Seungcheol sighed as he lowered the back of the beach chair in order to look up at the sky. “But yeah, I know what you mean,” the oldest said as he sighed. They were all fairly sad about the outcome. None of them had actually thought about people losing their lives, only the fact that they get to keep theirs. 

“We should start heading back soon,” Joshua said as he forcefully took the soda out of Hansol's hands and chugged it before the younger could protest. “We don't want them to have the lockdown without us, now do we?” he said sarcastically as he stood up from the beach chair, and threw the empty soda can at Seungcheol, to break his daydream. The can hit his chest and result in a few drops of the sweet drink to spill on him. His reaction was to jump up and lash out on Joshua, in a playful manner. The two boys ran around in circles around the remaining two boys before Joshua stopped. 

He hunched over and breathed heavily as he motioned for the older to pause the chase.

“I still don't understand how you passed the test?” Soonyoung said in a playful tone, “Or how natural selection hasn't come for you,” Hansol said jokingly as he hit Joshua's back. 

“I've told you, they can't just ‘choose’ who to start the ‘new world’ there are multiple aspects for one to be selected,” The now straightened boy said as he rolled his eyes at the two younger “I passed the test because I'm academically seen smarter,” Joshua said “just like how you're more athletically inclined” he continued as he motioned to Seungcheol “you're a fast learner and therefore a good asset” he continued and motioned to Soonyoung “and you, well you, what are you good at?” he asked Hansol somewhat jokingly and somewhat actually curious. 

“I _ 'll have you know I graduated top of my class in the navy seal- _ ” the youngest of them said before Soonyoung put his hand over Hansols mouth “I'll stop you right there,” he said as he, with his free hand, helped Hansol up from his seat. 

“What does that even mean? I speak English and even I don't know?” Joshua said questioningly as he put his hands into his pockets, before waking up to Seungcheol and putting his arm around him in order to tackle him to the ground. The older let out an inhumane noise, indicating that he had been defeated. 

“I read it in a history book, something about the generation before us speaking in like riddles?” Hansol said not bothered by the man on the ground, whaling in pain. “But never mind that, I'm good at languages, bro” Hansol shrugged before helping Seungcheol up from the ground. 

“Wait,” Soonyoung said, he had been quietly just observing the others as he took in the last of the freedom he would have, he then started to run to the end of the parking lot. Followed by weird looks from the other three, who just stood still, clueless. 

Soonyoung stood in front of one of the big trees that lined the parking lot perfectly shading the ground underneath of it. Its leaves had long ago stopped to form. No one had ever really seen a real leaf, more than in educational books of course. But the tree was still alive. The branches had grown, having to evolve into  photosynthesize  through the bark and not the leaves. 

“I'm sorry,” Soonyoung said apologetically as he took out a tiny pocket knife and started to carve out small shapes. The edges rough but still resembling a circle. He collected the 15 circles and carefully put them in his pocket before jogging back to the others who were still looking at him questioningly. 

They slowly started to walk back to the building. Soonyoung in the lead followed by Hansol and Joshua and Seungcheol walking last as he mumbled something to himself before speaking up.

“Hey, dipshit, the can?” Seungcheol said standing still and looking at Joshua who had turned around. 

“What about it?” the boy asked back “it's not as if it's going to seize to exist in a couple of hours,” he said rolling his eyes, his comment dripping in sarcasm. To which Seungcheol answered with a shrug, before jogging up to the others. 

“I hope Seokmin and Seungkwan are done with the dorm,” Hansol said as he started to walk backward, in order to keep eye contact with the other three. “We don't want to live in a pigsty for five years now”

“I hope so,” Joshua said sighing “Seok has put down so much time together with Seungkwan,” he said as he looked down on his shoes, still walking.

“Naw, is our Jisoo jealous?” Seungcheol said teasingly as he poked Joshua's cheeks, that, conveniently, had turned red.

“No!” the boy said back offended “why would I be jealous,” he said trailing off and with the voice of a grumpy five-year-old. 

“If anything I'm the one to be jealous,” Hansol said matter of factly, in an attempt to help Joshua from the bullying. 

“The thing is, Hand Soap,” Soonyoung said as he put his hand on Hansols' shoulder, like a dad trying to talk to his upset and sad son. Only that instead of saying ‘the thing is, Champ’ Soonyoung used the much dreaded and hated nickname of ‘hand soap’. A name that the boy had gained as he introduced himself as Hansol from America. Their friend, Seungkwan, tried to impress the older with his English skills. He tried to copy the boy's introduction in English, only that he said “Hello I am Hand Soap? From America” in a noticeably bad accent. 

“We know that you're whipped for Boo, and therefore it's not fun to bully you,” Soonyoung said rather nonchalantly as he made lots of unnecessary hand gestures. “Jisoo on the other hand...” the overly excited boy said as he skipped to Joshua that was walking in the front of the group “... Is really fun to make fun of, since he doesn't admit his love for Seokmin” Soonyoung said as the other boy covered his face in embarrassment. 

***

Seokmin was never one to clean, he used to live by himself and he simply never had to clean. He never owned enough things that could make his small one-room apartment cluttered. When he, 4 years ago, had to move in together with six others he had not expected it to become so, well, cluttered. It's not that they all had a lot of things, it was just that together with their individual items became a lot. 

“We need to fix this” Seungkwan said as he came to stand next to the other in the door frame “Before they close the doors” he finished as he looked around the mess with a disappointed and somewhat disgusted face. 

The room had the shape of the letter L and when you first entered the small room the first thing you would see would be the huge double-decker beds. Indifference from normal bunk beds were double beds. So altogether there were six double beds, in three sets. The other half of the room was a big couch and a small coffee table. Left to the entrance was also the only space for keeping things since the system was strict with not encouraging keeping too many things from the world before. Still, the six boys had managed to fill all the space with things, and it just made the boring white room look worse. Piles of clothes taking up the beds, and stacks of old books that Joshua and Soonyoung had found in an abandoned school library when they snuck out for the first time. The walls were also covered in newspaper cutouts, they really just tried to keep as much stuff as possible. 

Therefore Seungkwan had taken the problem into his own hands and decided to fix the dorm before the lockdown, and to his help, he took the only other person who didn't like the clutter. Seokmin.

It took them two whole days of cleaning and one whole day of organizing before the room was presentable. They managed to not throw anything away, and since Hansol and Seungkwan always slept in the same bed they were able to make a kind of loft from the bunk bed in the corner, where they could keep all of their belongings. 

They were sitting on the white carpeted floor playing cards, just Seungkwan and Seokmin, as a relaxing way of finishing the chores. The big screen that acted as their ‘window’ was currently showing a peaceful scenery of a green hill with a medium-sized pine tree on top. The screen was supposed to mimic nature so that the people inside of the facility wouldn't get depressed from the lack of freedom they get during the coming five years. 

“We’re back!” Hansol yelled as he basically kicked the steel door in. He looked at the room with a somewhat impressed gaze before he spotted the two boys on the floor. His eyes lit up before he ran and tickled his best friend to the ground, and gave him a bone-crushing hug. Seungkwan gasped for air as he hugged back and ruffled the younger's hair. Seokmin was calmly collecting the playing cards, figuring that the game was over, and put the playing cards in the bookshelf. 

When he turned around to look at the entrance he met eyes with Joshua, causing his body to fill with happiness. He jumped into the arms of the other and hugged him while complaining over how he was stuck with Seungkwan for the past few days.

“He never stopped singing” Seokmin mumbled into Joshua's neck as he still hugged the other. Joshua only patted the top of his head and made ironic shushing noises. “And that's coming from me!” The younger said in a dramatic voice. Seungkwan who had untangled himself from Hansol walked up to Joshua and the “crying” boy. 

“First of-” Seungkwan said as he put up a finger “let Joshua breath” to which Seokmin answered with lifting his head up and glaring at the younger before he hugged Joshua tighter and mumbled a “no, he's mine” wich made Joshua laugh fondly before patting the youngers back

“second of-” Seungkwan continued “you sang as well!!” the younger said dramatically as he hit Seokmin’s back 

“ what even is this hypocrisy?” Seungkwan said as he walked back to his and Hansol's shared bed. 

“I don't like pines,” Seokmin said as he sat down on the couch “they shed their small evil needles and cover the ground, giving it to much coverage, and even kill some poor plants”, he finished his burst of tree knowledge pouting as he tried to change the “window”.

“Why are you always so pouty,” Joshua asked as he sat down next to the other, putting his legs on Seokmins lap and laying down with his head on the armrest.

“Sorry,” Seokmin said, poting once again.

Joshua shot up and pointed at the younger's lips “there you're doing it again!” he said laughing. 

Seokmin just attacked the older and started to tickle him in an attempt to get the other to shut up and stop attacking him, causing them both to fall back on the couch.

***

**“Seungcheol” started a chat with “chan”, “Minghao” and 10 others**

**“Seungcheol” named the chat “In Peppa pigs memory”**

**Jeonghan:** Please explain the name and why 

**Jihoon:** Seungcheol why the fuck

**Seungcheol:** No swearing!! This is a Christian chat!!

**Seungkwan:** Christianity hasn't existed in over 80 years nor has the other religions

**Junhui:** Since when do you know big words like “Christianity”

**Wonwoo:** and “nor”

**Soonyoung:** and since when can you count to 80

**Hansol:** and since when do you have any general knowledge about anything

**Seungkwan:** wow okay not kool dudes

**Seungkwan:** I have knodledge!!

**Seungkwan:** Knowledge*

**Mingyu:** knodledge

**Jihoon:** knodledge

**Soonyoung:** knodledge

**Jeonghan:** knodledge

**Wonwoo:** knodledge

**Hansol:** knodledge

**Junhui:** knodledge

**Seungcheol:** knodledge

**Minghao:** knodledge

**Joshua:** knodledge

**Seokmin:** knodledge

**Seungkwan:** don't you dare!

**Chan:** knodledge!

**Seungkwan:** I trusted you!

**“Hansol” changed “seungkwan”s name to “knodledge”**

**Knodledge:** i trusted you the most

**Knodledge:** But if you wanna play, then lets play

**“Knodledge” changed “Hansol”s name to “Hand Soap”**

**Hand soap:** it happened one time you guys really need to let it go

**Jihoon:** Just suck it up hand soap

**Soonyoung:** ^^

**Joshua:** anyway back to the name

**Joshua:** why is it so stupid

**Seungcheol:** I found it written on one of the rocks outside

**Seungcheol:** I have no clue what it means but it seemed funny

**Chan:** your standards for humor are seriously low, bro

**Jeonghan:** Don't “bro” your dad!

**Junhui:** daddy*

**Mingyu:** Blocked, reported, my mom is calling yours

**Seokmin:** Say Hi from me!!

**Joshua:** oh sweety

**Jihoon:** Juns not wrong 

**Jihoon:** we all know you two fucking

**Seungcheol:** LAnguage!!

**Jeonghan:** CHAN IS A CHILD!! 

**Hand Soap:** Chan was tainted a long time ago

**Seungcheol:** back on track

**Seungcheol:** can we meet at the roof in like 10?

**Knodledge:** sure thing dad

**Junhui:** -dy

**Jeonghan:** you seriously need to stop you tainted piece of stale gum

**“Wonwoo” changed “junhui”s name to “stale piece of gum”**

**Stale piece of gum:** not cool babe

**Chan:** he said the B-word!!!

**Jeonghan:** ….

**Joshua:** did we or did we not agree on “no pda”

**Stale piece of gum:** we did…

**Seungcheol:** and what do we say?

**Stale piece of gum:** im sorry?

**Seungcheol:** no

**Stale piece of gum:** please forgive me oh great god totoro above?

**Wowoo:** why are you like this?

**Stale piece of gum:** evolution

  
  


***

They had all met up at the roof 10 minutes later as said. Seungcheol was already sitting on the swing that was attached to the artificial tree in the middle. The roof was a roof, but it wasn't opened to the sky as most roofs probably were. Instead, it was covered with a round glass dome, separating the youth inside from the world outside. 

“Scooch” The youngest, Chan, said to Seungcheol as he motioned for the older to let him sit on the swing beside him. There they slowly floated over the green plastic grass as the rest of the group assembled around them. All finding a place to sit on the garden furniture spread around the small rooftop. 

Joshua was the first to break the silence, clearly sensing that something wasn't right. “What's on your mind?” he asked with the sweetest, most careful voice he could muster. Just in case something was seriously wrong. Even if they shut down was supposed to happen in some hours they could technically still be exchanged with another youth. 

“You all need to promise me that what I say stays with us?” Seungcheol spoke up after some time hesitation “I know I can trust you, but I need you to trust me” he said ominously and in a low tone as if he feared the wrong ears overhearing the conversation. 

“I can speak for us all when I say that we trust you” Wonwoo stated while looking around at the others “right?” 

The dome was filled with “yeah”s and “of course” for a few seconds before it got deadly silent again. 

No one had seen Seungcheol this hesitant before. He was always the one to leap into action, without having a clue about the possible consequences. He never really needed to care about them, since there rarely were any, and when there where he would solve the problem within minutes, no matter how big it was. Him being hesitant meant that he had been thinking about, whatever he was thinking about, for a long time. 

“I, uhm, I really trust you,” he said as he fidgeted with his finger in his lap only for them to be separated and gripped by hand. He intertwined their fingers and gave the older a reassuring look as he also softly squeezed his hand. “This is going to sound crazy” he muttered to himself before taking a deep breath and looking up at the others.

“You know how my brother works for the state?” he asked and was answered by multiple nods, both answers and of encouragement to continue. “Well, not anymore” he took a breath and continued speaking before anyone could ask any questions “ he got fired last month for trying to sabotage the ‘saving’ project” here he paused and tried to calm himself down for what he was going to say next.

“But they don't fire people?” Soonyoung said questioningly “that's what they told me when I applied” he continued looking up confused at Seungcheol.

“They don't,” Seungcheol said matter of factly “they exterminate them,” he said, voice cold as ice as if his brother hadn't been murdered without his family knowing. “My mom still thinks he works here,” The grip around his hand tightened as Chan looked up at him, tears threatening to spill. 

Chan had gotten the pleasure to meet Sengcheols' older brother, and essentially his own older brother when he just started the program a few years ago. Once every year the SF:s get to travel back to their families, to ensure that they have a stable mentality before going into the final step of the project. Chan had unfortunately been one of the many SF:s who came from the start groups, so he had nowhere to go. So Seungcheol took Chan with him to his family home

They had spent nights together playing cards and pretending to sleep when their parents had walked in on them way past their scheduled sleep hours. To hear that his bonus family had become one less hurt the younger, they were his family as much as they were Seungcheols. 

Seungcheol gently wiped away the younger's tears and gently kissed the top of his head, to show him that he was there and that he needed to calm down for the moment as he tried to forget that they were sitting there all thirteen of them. 

“How do you know this then?” jun had asked “if you say that they murd- hpm exterminated him” he finished while massaging his side where Wonwoo had elbowed him. 

“This” Seungcheol said as he pressed down on his ring causing a faint hologram to shine in the middle of their circle. “He managed to send me all of his notes and a letter before they caught him” he proceeded as he scrolled down to the latest posting.

“If you're getting this then it means that I didn't really complete my plan” Seungkwan started to read out loud “above are all of my motivations as to why this plan isn't a waste of time and why I'm not a lunatic. When I first started to work for the Saving Project I was hoping for a better future. I hoped that my children would be able to run around on real grass and not the fake shit we have now, I dreamed about trees with leaves! It took me one month before I realized that my dreams were further away than I thought.” Seungkwan paused and took a deep breath before continuing. 

“I wasn't supposed to figure out their real plan. You were told that you were special and that you would be one of the few that got to live in the new world. They told you that they were going to clean the world, sacrificing a few lives of the ones that couldn't survive the resurrection, but that it all would be for a greater good. They were going to make sure that as many as possible would survive, and that you would get educated to help them once you get out if you ever do” Seungkwan stopped again and went quiet for a while, reading ahead. 

“Continue,” Minghao said, breaking Seungkwan out of his focus on the text in front of him.

“Dad has gathered all the people, or the ones that chose to follow him, in the near laying cities. He took them to one of the organization's failed housing buildings, one that was going to function as the one you're sitting in right now. There they will be 100% safe from the bomb. “What bomb?” you may be asking, the bomb they are planning to drop on the day of resurrection, destroying all life. Where they, later on, can start step 2: the new beginning.” Seungkwan quickened his reading paste and continued. 

“When you're reading this you won't be able to leave, however when the five years are up they will give you the choice of either staying with them and building up a new civilization, or you can go your own way. In the coming years, they will tell you about how the world has changed for the better but there will be complications. The life that might have survived, I doubt there is much, but some will evolve. We don't know if they're going to be a threat for us but I doubt it. The organization however will do all in its power to make you believe that you won't be able to survive on your own. What I ask of your brother, is to group and make sure that you find dad.” Seungkwan finished looking at the oldest in hopes for him to show the rest of the text.

“That's all there is,” Seungcheol says as if he read the younger's thoughts “I have read everything, multiple times and, and what he said, it makes sense” he finished as he started to scroll up on the hologram in front of him. 

In front of them were now pictures taken from one of the organization's computers. On the top of the page stood  **Revival plan** followed by lots of text. 

“Youngjae was right when he said that they weren't up to any good” Seungcheol continued referring to his brother “they don't plan for us to live our lives, they plan to control it,” He said anger slowly filling his voice “Here are marriage plans and everything, they want to control all of us,” Seungcheol said angrily scrolling from the top of the hologram to the bottom and back up again. 

“You mean to tell us that your brother, who we've only met twice, wants us to leave the comfort of our homes and wander into the wilderness?” Jihoon said questioningly and somewhat skeptically as he locked eyes with Seungcheol. 

“Didn't you hear anything? They killed him, they might kill your parents too if they didn't go with dad!” Chan finally spoke up with a shaky voice and tears silently rolling down his face “if what he is saying is true, and I really believe so, then we can't stay longer than necessary” He continued a little calmed down. Sounding more grownup that anyone ever had expected him to sound at such a young age. 

The dome was filled with silence as everyone was thinking. Seungcheol quietly pulled Chan into his lap to make sure that he was okay. The younger instinctively intervened their fingers again, as Seungcheols' hands were locked over the younger's stomach, keeping him from falling to the ground. 

“I say let's go for it,” Seokmin says as he calmly addresses the matter “ what do we really have to lose?” 

“Our lives!” Jihoon says “our family” and he gets quiet as Soonyoung puts one of his hands on his knee before speaking up for the first time in a while.

“If what Youngjae wrote is true then I'm afraid that the only family we might have is either here right now” he pauses and looks around at the faces in the setting sun “or out there, hiding” he finishes, looking down at the older and hoping that he made some sense. 

“Youngjae left us one ring each,” Seungcheol speaks up as he opens his bag that had been quietly leaning against the base of the tree. From it he picks up a wooden box the size of a computer. He opened it to reveal 12 identical rings. All in silver with a small engraving on the front. He passes the box around so that everyone can pick up a ring.

“What does ‘SVT’ mean?” Mingyu asks as he puts his on and observes it. The engraving shimmering in a faint blue and pinkish color when met with the sunlight. 

“It's the name of Youngjaes and dads' plan, ‘Seventeen’ that's how many were supposed to stay here and await the day we were going to be free once again,” Seungcheol says as he inspects his own ring.

“Were only 13 and with your brother, we would still only be 14, who are the other three?” Hansol asks 

“Do you remember the small boy that went to all of our training when we were small?” Seungcheol asks and looks up at Wonwoo, the only other person in their project group that had been there for over 10 years.

“Samuel?” Wonwoo hesitantly answer 

“Yeah, exactly, him” Seungcheol continues “With Samuel, Youngjae, my dad and my mom we were supposed to be 17,” he says before pausing and taking a deep breath “but now we are only 16” he finishes trailing off at the thought of his brother. 

“Samuel is a part of project group 16, the one below us?” Wonwoo says in an attempt to break the crushing silence again. 

“Yeah, I am going to try and contact him after the lockdown” Seungcheol explains bluntly. “But I need to know that you all are with me on this” he continues as he scans the area, locking eyes with everyone except for Jihoon, who was still looking down at his feet. “Can I trust you?” he persists “Can I trust you to not voice this to anyone outside of us?” 

The dome is once again filled with “of course”s and “yeah”s. Jihoon is the only one who doesn't speak up. He quietly studies his ring before he gives it to Soonyoung and leaves, all without saying one ́word. 

***

Chan and Seungcheol were the last to leave the roof. The others had quietly shattered, Soonyoung being the first to leave to go find Jihoon and talk to him. The others had said they were going back to their shared dorm rooms or to the cafeteria or the common room, anywhere except for the roof. All that had been said the past hours wasn't something that was easy to comprehend. Even though most had agreed to the plan at first, there might still be some slight hesitation. 

“How are you holding up,” Seungcheol asked the younger who was quietly sitting in one of the beanbags on the floor, earlier occupied by Jun. He hadn't looked up once from his ring since he had gotten it. Most likely still melting the fact that his ‘brother’ was no longer with them. 

“Why didn't you tell me?” Chan asked, still not looking up. His voice was shaky once again. He tried to calm himself by taking a deep yet shaky breath in order to not cry “Am I not entitled to know?” he continued, his voice low and powerless. 

Seungcheol had risen from the swing and squatted down in front of him, an attempt to get the younger to look at him. “Of course you are!” He said as he put his hand on the younger's knee “I just didn't know how to tell you?” his voice trailed off “I didn't know how to tell me” he continued in a low and saddened chuckle. 

The younger kept quiet, just fiddling with either his knuckles or the ring. 

“He loved you a lot” Seungcheol tried to comfort the other in an attempt to lighten the mood he continued, “I think he liked you more than he liked me,” he said, letting out a small laugh. To which the younger let a tear roll down his cheek as his lips stretched to a small smile. 

“He didn't really like you tho” the younger finally said, his voice still sad but a bit more powerful. “I mean I was the brother he always wanted” he continued to try and joke. It was when he uttered the last words that he finally broke. 

He sobbed as Seungcheol dragged him into his arms. There, on the plastic grass under the tree, the two stayed in each other's arms. Both crying yet assuring each other that everything would be fine. They didn't dare break apart once they had stopped crying, in fear that they would just cry more once they saw each other's faces. 

***

**Seungcheol:** I know what I said was shocking

**Jihoon:** Shocking, crazy,out of the blue, lunaticky

**Joshua:** Lunaticky?

**Jihoon:** crazy pt.2*

**Seungcheol:** I get that, but it's still 5 years until we actually have to do anything

**Jeonghan:** So?

**Seungcheol:** So can we just not focus on it too much?

**Seungcheol:** we still have a lot of time to just be happy

**Stale piece of gum:** You want us to forget that we were probably being brainwashed and that our families might be more dead than we thought?

**Seungcheol:** yeah?

**Minghao:** ….

**Stale piece of gum:** fine, but i wont like it

**Seungcheol:** thank you Jun

**Jeonghan:** what do you want us to do then

**Chan:** Go back to how it was before?

**Chan:** Everybody having fun and bullying Kwan

**Minghano:** that doesn't sound so bad

**Knodledge:** Please don't

**Hand soap:** pelae do

**Jeonghan:** As the great person i am

**Jeongah:** I dont think we should just bully Kwannie

**Knodledge:** Thank you?

**Jeonghan:** Youre welcome

**Stale piece of gumi:** What are you getting at here?

**Jeonghan:** Im just saying that Kwan isnt the only stupid person here

**Knodledge:** Thanks….

**Jeonghan:** Youre welcome

**Wonwoo:** Remember that time when Jihoon was sleepdeprived and ate my bar of soap

**Seungcheol:** No….

**Stale piece of gum:** well he did

**Jihoon:** It looked smelled and almost tasted like choclate

**Jihoon:** Stop harassing me why would you even mention it?????

**Wonwoo:** beacuse you deserve some harassment

**“Jeonghan” changed “Jihoon”s name to “soap”**

**Soap:** how original

*******

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

“Move, bitch,” Soonyoung says as he opens the door to Jeonghan's shared dorm and sees the other sitting on top of the bed that is not soonyoungs. 

“I'm-, what no this is my bed?” Jeonghan says baffled as he is being pushed to the other side of the mattress as Soonyoung is placing himself under Jeonghan's covers with his back against the other. 

“Well does it look like I care?” Soonyoung mumbles into Jeonghan's pillow as he turns off the bedside lamp “I’m gonna sleep so shut up” he finishes as he tries to kick Jeonghan away from the bed. 

Jeonghan who is still stunned simply gets up and walks over to the other side of the bunk bed, the side which Soonyougs face is facing. He crouches down a concerned look over his face since Soonyoung never sleeps outside of his own dorm. However this doesn't bother Jeonghan too much, the other is still breathing and talking so nothing can be too bad, and Jeonghan himself needs to sleep in his bed. 

While crouching down Jeonghan made his hand into a fist before blankly punching toward Soonyioungs body. Soonyoung quickly let out a grown as he curled together, and Jeonghan stood back up with a satisfied smile. 

“Move. Bitch” The older said threateningly as he dragged the other out of his bed “I don’t care what your problem is, but just go fucking fix it” he continues as he drags the pined Soonyoung towards the dorm door “I need my fucking sleep” he finished as he dropped Soonyoung's arms and let his whole body lay on the floor. 

“I just wanted to sleep,” the boy on the floor said in pain as he tried to stand up “You didn't have to punch me!” he said with his voice slowly raising to an angered tone. 

Jeonghan had slowly walked back to his bed while Soonyoung was struggling on the floor. The older really didn't care whether or not it hurt, he most likely deserved it. Soonyoung would never willingly sleep in Jeonghan's bed unless he had problems in his own dorm. 

The last time Soonyoung had slept in Jeonghan shared dorm he had managed to get Joshua to threaten to end his life, something that Joshua would never do to anyone. Soonyoung had explained it with Joshua simply losing his mind and going berserk. However, it had become known that Soonyoung had made fun of Seokmin when he found out that they didn't know the difference between the usage of ‘you're’ and ‘your’. Instead of teaching Seokmin the difference, Soonyoung had taken the opportunity to make some jokes on Seokmin's behalf. Joshua who had walked in on it lost it the moment he understood what was happening. The older had basically threatened Soonyoung that he would make sure he regretted his choice to want to live. 

All of this ended in Soonyoung sleeping in Jeonghan's bed until Joshua did not glare at him every time they passed each other in the halls. So for Soonyoung to be in Jeonghan's dorm once again would most likely have something with Soonyoung and his personal problems to do. 

“Just fucking go fix your problem and sleep in your own bed” Jeonghan calmly stated as he brought his book back from the floor in order to keep on reading as he did before Soonyoung burst through the door. 

“I can’t!” Soonyoung said loudly as he looked at Jeonghan with fire in his eyes “Jihoon locked me out!” he continues still boiling with anger as he glares at Jeonghan “that little bitch doesn't want to talk to me so he found it fitting to lock the goddamn door instead” he finished as he took a deep breath and used his arms to try and meditate down his anger. 

“Just ask the others to open?” Jeonghan says in a questioning tone as if it isn't a completely obvious answer. Soonyoung does still share his dorm with more people other than Jihoon, so surely they could open up for him. “Or just use your key?” 

“They're not there” Soonyoung just muttered as he started to head out the door again, there was no use for him to pester Jeonghan with his presence, the older wouldn't budge the slightest. “Why aren't you at the hospital?” he asked instead of walking out of the room. 

None of them were supposed to be at their dorms since it was a work week they should all be at their representative stations. Soonyoung should be at his office reading up on the new arrivals, and Jeonghan should be at the local hospital outside of the Main. Jihoon should also be at his office but he had been so moody lately, something that could cost his spot. The headmasters seem to like his upright asshole-ness so it won't be too much of a problem for the little fucker to not do what he's supposed to, Soonyoung just thought to himself as he grabbed ahold of, what he assumed was, Mingyu's covers and draped them around him as he sat down in front of the door, not keen on leaving and doing what he was supposed to be doing. 

“Free day” Jeonghan simply answered as he turned the page of his book not giving Soonyoungs lasting presence another thought “The question is: what are you doing here and what is Ji doing locked in your dorm,” he asks with little to no actual interest. 

“I’m done with this week's work” Soonyoung responds “and fuckface is just begging to be kicked out,” he says with his voice dripping in temporary hate, he does not want to admit that he missed Jihoons company. Not just having him walk past him in the cafeteria and just roll his eyes when Soonyiung tried to talk to him. He wanted to joke around again, and he could honestly not explain why the other was being so distant all of a sudden. 

“What did you do to make him kick you out” Jeonghan states, not a question, since he didn’t want an answer, he just wanted Soonyoung to leave him alone. 

Soonyoung might have been the  psychologist  of the SP:K but he did not apply his theories and knowledge to himself. When it came to his actual life, outside of his work, he was quite ignorant regarding his relationships with others, he acted like a child, hoping that everyone would like him for just existing. So whenever he had actual problems he had a tendency to handle them like a child, to either not talk to anyone and just be sour, or to act out. 

“Well, I told him that he would be exchanged if he continued acting like a prick,” Soonyoung said slowly, he didn’t think he was wrong, of course, it might have been quite thoughtless and mean, but he was right.

It had happened before, people came and went. They got a spot in the program, took it for granted and acted however they wanted and then got kicked out, that’s how they had gained Mingyu. He had joined after Minki had gotten kicked out, no one really knew why but he was very unpleasant so no one really commented on it. 

“So perhaps you should say that you're sorry” Jeonghan proceeded as if he was talking to a five-year-old kid who stole another child’s toy. 

“But I’m not sorry” Soonyoung blatantly says, one thing he would never do was to lie for no reason “he is behaving like an asshole, he doesn’t talk to me-” Soonyoungs voice gradually becomes louder as he talks about all the things Jihoon does or doesn’t do “- he rolls his eyes when I try to talk to him and he, he just fucking annoys me!” Soonyoung finishes in a frustrated voice, his cheeks red from anger and irritation. 

“If you’re not going to fix it then don’t be angry,” the other says as he turns yet another page “perhaps our Jihoon needs someone to actually listen to him and not be mad at him” He continues as he looks up at Soonyoung for the first time in a while. 

“I’m not his fucking therapist” Soonyoung spits out with spite dripping from his words.

“In fact, you fucking are” Jeonghan comments “I’M not your fucking therapist” he finishes with an emphasis on the ‘i’m’, annoyed that his free day would be ruined by him becoming Soonyoungs problem solver. His words seemed to shut Soonyoung up for a bit.

“Fine” the younger mumbles as he fumbles with his bracelet “ill just fucking text him,” he says as the chatroom appears in front of him. 

“No don’t do that-” Jeonghan tries to interrupt just as his own bracelet lightly glows soft violet color “- because we're all going to have to read it” he deadpans before sighing. 

***

**_P17: official chat_ **

**Soonyoung:** Im going to mention the elephant in the room 

**Jeonghan:** please dont just talk like a normal person we dont need to read all this

**Chan:** we?

**Jeonghan:** not soontoung and jioon 

**Jeonghan: s** oonyoung*

**Seungkwan:** is jihoon the elephant

**Soonyoung:** you can bet your life jihoon is the fucking elephant 

**Jeonghan:** you dont need to be so agressive

**Jihoon:** why cant you all just fuck off and not spam im trying to do my work 

**Seungcheol:** everyone is trying to work youre not special 

**Jihoon:** fuck you

**Soonyoung:** back to the elephant

**Soonyoung:** can you like stop being an asshole, please and thank you :) 

**Jihoon:** no. 

**Jun:** can yall like talk face to face instead of being annoying im trying to study 

**Soonyoung:** no the fucker wont talk to me and i need him to tell me why hes acting like a dick to  everyone 

**Soonyoung:** us*

**Seungcheol:** prehaps if you just admit to missing him he will stop acting like a fool 

**Soonyoung:** me? Missing him? For what? I just want my fucking respect back 

**Seungcheol:** we all know that you only care beacuse you want to be with him, beacuse he really isnt  in the way or an asshole to anyone

**Jihoon:** im just fucking bussy so leave me be

**Soonyoung:** busy my ass, you locked me out of my own room, beacuse your busy??

**Jihoon:** yeah basically 

**Soonyoung:** bullshit 

**Seungcheol:** Soon just be nice and admit that you miss him and he´´then you maybe hell talk to you 

**Soonyoung:** i dont fucking miss him 

**Seungkwan:** okay you all need to shut the fuck up im in class and i cannot risk getting kicked 

**Seungkwan:** soonyoung you fucing idiot just admit it 

**Soonyoung:** FINE

**Soonyoung:** i might slightly miss the fact that you would not glare at me for walking by 

**Jihoon:** THAT COUNTS 

**Jihoon:** JEONGHAN THAT COUNTS 

**Jihoon:** he said that he missed me

**Jihoon:** now hand over the chocolate

**Jeonghan:** …..

**Soonyoung:** what????

**Seungkwan:** they bet that you wouldnt admit that you liked jihoons company in any way 

**Seungcheol:** jihoon bet that you would admit it 

**Jeonghan:** … and i thought you were stronger than this 

**Jeonghan:** youve let me down once again

**Soonyoung:** did everyone know about this bet???

**Junhui:** basically 

**Seungcheol:** everyone knew but me and seungkwan also bet that youd admit it

**Seungkwan:** so some of that chocolate is ours ji

**Soonyoung:** i hate you all 

**Jihoon:** dont tell me youre actually hurt

**Soonyoung:** fuck you 

***

“Yeah I remember when he ignored you last time” Junhui answered to Soonyoungs question. 

They were currently sitting on the roof, the doors had already been locked, but the final step had not gone into progress yet, they would not know when it happened. The plan was to keep it a secret to not cause extra panic in the younger SF:s, however, Junhui had calculated it to be somewhere between 1 am and 4 am the coming night, for that would be the hottest day the whole year, so the probable heat from the extermination can be blamed at the overall heat. Although he could not be sure of this, for all he knows the plan could already have been fulfilled, he really didn't want to think about that, he'd rather just pretend that it never will happen and that he's just at a boarding school. He will just fill his coming 6820 days with studying and anything he would normally do. 

“I don't see why I should care though” Junhui continued as honestly as he could. He had only come to the roof to meet up with Wonwoo, so seeing Soonyoung there instead had been an unfortunate surprise. 

“Because“ Soonyoung started “because the only other time he has done this was when he could gain something from it,” he said earnestly. He hadn't been sleeping well the past days, ever since what Seungcheol said everything had just been going downhill. It's quite ironic, Soonyoung thought, he was the unit's therapist, yet he was feeling like shit. 

Jihoon was his best friend and he hasn't talked to him for a week, and this time it wasn't a joke. Jihoon had been the first to leave their last meeting and Soonyoung had quickly walked behind. He was afraid of what the other would do out of rage or confusion. It wasn't easy to read the other's emotions, they were all handling and thinking of the situation differently. Soonyoung wasn't that bothered, he thought, he just wanted to spend the rest of his days with the others, and Jihoon. If that ‘rest of his days’ was going to be out in the wilderness then so be it. 

“I haven't seen him leave his bed unless it's to go to the bathroom,” Soonyoung says defeated “and I'm worried” he finishes off with a small voice. 

Jihoon was his everything, ever since he had joined he had made him feel more at home. Jihoon was his home, he was the first-ever person in his life that cared about him. Of course, his parents had cared for him, they wanted him to survive, but most days Soonyoung ponders over if they only wanted him to survive so that they could feel like they had achieved something, or if they actually loved him. Either way, they had been gone for the past years, and instead there was Jihoon. The person who filled his heart, with affection and warmth. The other might not think of Soonyoung the way Soonyoung thinks of him, but he would make sure that Jihoon knew how much he meant to Soonyoung. 

“He won’t answer me,” the younger one said in a crushed voice. 

“You're currently just having a monolog, Soon” Junhui interrupted “and I'm not a love expert but-” he couldn't continue any further before Soonyoung interrupted him as well.

“Love expert?!” he said in a high pitched tone “who said anything about a love expert, Jihoon is my best friend” he continued, his face slowly gaining more pigment. 

“I, yeah sure” Junhui dismissed the others comment “anyway, I don't know how I can help you, have you actually told him how much his well being affects you?” the older asked as he quietly prayed for Wonwoo to walk out of the door any minute. He loved Soonyoung, he really did, but he needed to talk to his other half. They hadn't been able to talk to each other at all since they closed the doors. The headmaster had given them so much work in order to keep them occupied and not think too much, and it was a nice thought, but it most likely backfired since everyone was more stressed than ever before. 

The last conversation that Junhui had had with Wonwoo wasn't very comforting either. It had been the opposite, and Junhui hadn't been able to forget it. Just the two sentences that Wonwoo had given him, those two had given him a stomach ache he couldn't get rid of. 

_ “You don't think Jihoon would actually tell on us?” Junhui said in a hesitant voice as he walked hand in hand with Wonwoo on their way back to their dorm. It had been quite a shocking night for them, but they knew what they had to do. Or at least Junhui did, his whole family was here, and so was Wonwoo, and he knew that Wonwoo would follow Seungcheol everywhere, and Junhui would follow Wonwoo.  _

_ “I've known Ji for eight years, and I know he does what's right” Wonwoo answers calmly “and if he does tell on us, perhaps that is what is right,” the younger of the two says as he lightly swings their intertwined hands in an attempt to lighten the mood a little.  _

“I, I guess I haven't” Soonyoung answered lowly “I guess I should” 

“Yeah, you should,” Junhui said matter of factly “No one can fix this for you, the both of you need to talk,” Junhui said, evidently finishing their conversation as Soonyoung stood up without a word and walked out the door. Leaving Junhui alone with his thoughts and the sky that might be fake. 

***

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

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	3. Chapter 3

**_P17: official chat_ **

**_(In Peppa Pigs Memory)_ **

**Wonwoo:** yo did yall know that people used to make their own food???

**Jeonghan:** wait how do you mean?

**Wonwoo:** instead of just having everything be artificially plantbased like we have it

**Wonwoo:** they.used.to.grow.and.make.food

**Hand soap:** im not following :/ 

**Knodledge:** do you ever 

**Stale piece of gum:** i think what won is trying to say is that people didnt get it made like we do

**Seokmin:** they grew it organically and harvested it to later use it in order to combine ingredients and  make stuff 

**Stale piece of gum:** they made it themselves

**Stale piece of gum:** ignore what i said Minnies awnser was better

**Soap:** minnie?

**Seokmin:** yeah? 

**Soap:** no i mean like where did the name minnie com from 

**Stale piece of gum:** joshua calls him minnie so i call him minnie

**Joshua:** no you dont 

**Stale piece of gum:** what why not 

**Soonyoung:** you really dont want to argue with him when it comes to seok

**“Joshua” changed “Seokmin”s name to “minnie <3”**

**Wonwoo:** anyway

**Wonwoo:** so back to what i was saying 

**Hand soap:** _ this could be us but you playin _

**Wonwoo:** i'm not even gonna comment 

**Wonwoo:** Seokmin, do you think you could get us like ingredients??

**Minnie <3: ** depends on what kind of ingredients you want 

**Wonwoo:** for bread??

**Minnie <3: ** i can try!!

**Knodledge:** what do you need ingredients for bread???

**Stale piece of gum:** so we can make bread duh 

**Soap** : why would we want to make bread

**Soonyoung:** beacuse its fun squidward

**Soonyoung:** now shut tup

**Chan:** tup 

**Soonyoung:** dont make me beat you up kiddo

**Seungcheol:** i wouldnt if i were you 

**Soap:** oooooo protective papa bear eh

**Stale piece of gum:** can we all just agree that theyre fuckning before we make bread 

**Soap:** i can agree that theyre fucking but i wont make bread 

**Chan:** too bad cuz both of those will have true 

**Wonwoo:** that's not a grammatically correct sentence 

**Chan:** youre not gramatically correct 

**Joshua:** so bread?

**Wonwoo:** everyone in the cafeteria in 3 hours 

**Seungcheol:** 3h is alot of hours 

**Seungcheol:** and im bored now 

**Knoledge:** just fuck chan or something

**Hand soap** : that wont take him 3 hours

**Joshua:** just because you cant last more than 3 minutes

**Hand soap:** ow 

**Jeonghan:** IF YOU FUCK IN OUR DORM IM GOING TO MURDER YOU 

**Chan:** he says it as if it hasnt happend before 

**Minghao:** youre way too savage for your own good 

**Chan:** i mean theres no point in denying it anymore 

**Mingyu:** so how long 

**Seungcheol:** 3 years

**Stale piece of gum** : WHAT NOW 

**Stale piece of gum** : AND YOU DIDNT TELL US

**Stale piece of gum** : I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS

**Stale piece of gum** : AND YOU DIDNT TELL ME YOUVE BEEN FUCKING A CHILD

**Wonwoo:** pedophile. 

**Seungcheol:** oh come on he was 18

**Knodlege:** and you were 22

**Soap:** im sorry but do you realise how bad that is 

**Seungcheol:** does it look like i care 

**Chan:** anyway

**Chan:** see yall in 3 hours 

**Minnie <3: ** please dont tell me 

**Seungcheol:** ;)

“ **Stale piece of gum** ” changed “ **Seungcheo** l”s name to “ **pedophile** ” 

“Okay ladies and gentlemen” Junhui announced loudly as the last members of the p17 group walked through the door into the kitchen “we've all been gathered here today for a bake-of-” he tried to continue before Wonwoo pushed him aside. 

“Yeah no this isn't working” Wonwoo simply said as he gave Junhui a glare that could mean many things, but mostly ‘stop acting like a child’ “first off, it's called a bake-off, sweaty” he continued making sure to smile fakely towards his boyfriend as he knowingly called him sweaty instead of sweety, “second off, no one can leave, Jihoon you're the judge” he pronounced as he dragged the shortest of the bunch forward and gave him a sticker with the words 'judge’ followed by a smiley sticker. 

“And since we don't want this to be too easy we've made two teams” Junhui continued taking back his place in the monetary spotlight. “Team number uno” he declared “Wonwoo, Vernon, Joshua, Soonyoung, Chan, and mister Xu” Junhui started as he listed all the names and dragged each and every contestant from their previous spot until they were all standing next to each other in one line. “Then we have; Seokmin, Mingyu, Seungcheol, Seungkwan, and lastly, The most fabulous person ever,” the loud boy finished as he placed himself in the new line he had created. 

“And why am I not in a team?” Jihoon asked curiously “not that I'm complaining” 

“because, good friend,” Wonwoo said as he threw his arm over Jihoons shoulders “you wouldn't do anything more than complain” he continued to explain “so we thought we would save everyone from that pain” Wonwoo finished while giving Jihoon a fake smile before it slowly turned into a genuine one. 

Wonwoo had known Jihoon for what felt like an eternity, he had known them all for at least 3 years, which is quite a lot of time to get to know people. Then he of course had lots of projects together, before they locked down the Main they had mandatory trips to go on for educational purposes. Their favorite being the one where they had been dropped off randomly into some woods and had to find their way back to the Main. They nearly died of starvation and dehydration, but before that, they had taken the chance to just relax and light a fire. Of course, that could never happen again now that they’re supposed to be inside for 5 years, but they will try to make the best out of it, and one of Wonwoos plans was to make them do the dumb shit they’ve never had the fortune to do. For example bake, or draw, or anything, they've only gotten to see in history videos. 

“Now,  _ Minnie _ ,” Jeonghan said with a sly tone, intentionally locking eyes with Joshua to see if he could get a reaction from him, and sure he did. Joshua was almost fuming, but he tried to hide it by just giving Jeonghan a killing glare before acting as if the counter in front of him was all of a sudden very interesting. “Did you manage to get the ingredients?” Jeonghan continued in a sweet voice as he looked over at their local organic smuggler. 

“I think I did,” Seokmin said as he placed the clear basket on the counter “of course none of this is how it was back in the times” he continued while unpacking the different things, “but I think it will work,” he says enthusiastically as he flashes Jeonghan a smile.

“Okay so I found this simple recipe on whole wheat bread” Wonwoo speaks up while he gives Seokmin a copy of the recipe “and basically we're just gonna see who can make the best bread,” he says with a happy voice “that our Jihoon approves of”

“This doesn't sound so hard,” Seungkwan says as he snatches the recipe from Seokmin's hands and examines it “you are all going down” he finishes with a threatening tone as he uses his thumb to symbolize someone losing their head. 

“We have an hour starting-” Wonwoo said as he pressed down on his bracelet “now!! Go go go!” The bracelet shone a purple light that pictured a clock slowly counting down from 59 minutes and 60 seconds. 

The two teams quickly gathered around their kitchen counters as the self-proclaimed team leaders started to make up a game plan. Seokmin had quickly started to give every member of his team individual directions of what they had to do. Mingyu was in charge of greasing the bread pan since there was a minimal chance he would hurt himself doing that. Junhui was supposed to measure out the ingredients, Seungcheol was going to try and operate the oven and Seungkwan was the overall hype man of their team. The youngest in their team was throwing insults at the other team as if it was his only meaning in life. 

“You'll manage this as well as you manage your relationships,” Seungkwan said coldly as he glared towards Hansol. He would spare no one, not even his best friend “but I guess you already know that” he finished just to get a cold glare back, followed by a “just fuck off will you” 

“So Chan, huh,” Junhui said on the other side of the counter where he was standing leaning into his hands as he is looking at Seungcheol who was currently just trying to help his teamwork, “pedophile” Junhui said with a joking tone when he didn't get an answer from the oldest. 

“What about him?” Seungcheol just answered earnestly as he continued on with his task to understand what all the buttons on the oven did. 

“Well for starters why did you hide it,” Jun asked honestly, actually curious and not just in a mood to make people aggravated at him, “I thought we were friends man” 

“We didn't hide it,” Seungcheol said as he pushed a random button that made the inside of the oven light up “you were just not paying attention” 

“Fair enough” The nosy one continued, agreeing to his momentary defeat “I'll give it to you, I don't really care” he continued nonchalantly as he started to turn around, acting as if he was going to help Seokmin with actually making the bread and not just stand around. Or he was until he turned back around with his hands out in a drastic manner. 

“But you fucked a child!” He said in a drastic and overly dramatic voice, just looking at Seungcheol with wide eyes, expecting an argument. 

“He was 18-” Seungcheol started as he rolled his eyes, he couldn't however continue with his argument when a voice spoke up from across the room. 

“And it was the other way around,” Chan added as if he had read Seungcheol's mind. Junhui was, to say the least, shocked as he just let his eyes jump from Seungcheol to Chan with his mouth hanging wide open. 

“You- You” He started “Chan tops?!” he almost screamed out, grabbing the attention of the other team, and his own. Seungkwan and Joshua were the ones who burst out in laughter, either at Junhuis overreacting and voice cracking, or over the fact that the youngest person in their project group had been fucking the oldest over and over for three years. To Wonwoo, who had known Seungcheol the longest, found both scenarios quite funny, and couldn't help but to swallow some of his own laughter.

“Jun just shut up and try to help your team,” Wonwoo said instead with a stern voice and a serious gaze “because so far you're losing miserably” He finished with a small mischievous smile. 

"You let a child fuck you" Junhui continued, now having turned down his drama, and found his composure, and he truly couldn't care less about what Wonwoo said "Did not think that about you" The annoying man continued as he let out a disappointed sigh. 

"oh shut up Jun" Chan could be heard saying from the other side of the kitchen as he was slowly walking up to the discussing duo "you let an overgrown nerd fuck you, so who's really a loser here" The youngest finished as he left Junhui standing in silence. Junhui couldn't think of a comeback, and he didn't have to because Chan was quick enough to flick the older's forehead before he turned around to head back to his station. 

"You know what, fair enough," Junhui said as he slowly got back to his original task. 

Seokmin, Seungkwan, and Mingyu had been the only ones actually caring about their tasks and had managed it quite well. 

"I think I used to do this with my mom" Seokmin had said while he was kneading the dough. It wasn't often someone mentioned their family or their life before, it had become something of a rule, to just keep silent. Their lives had begun when they entered The Main, but Seokmin was never one to stick to that rule, he always talked, about everything and anything. Most of the others found it quite calming because he didn't try to deny what was happening, or what had happened, he was just happy and wanted to make a new family, that he knew all about and that knew all about him. 

"Then we got this in the bag!" Mingyu said enthusiastically "I've never done anything like this ever" he continued, giving in to the temptation of having a solid conversation, and not just insults and jokes "we always got the food delivered to one door" he continued, making sure to not say anything that might have gotten him to fall into a whole of sad thoughts "like how everyone else did" he added. 

"well we lived so far off, and I don't even think we were citizens," Seokmin said looking at the dough with a thoughtful expression "I haven't really thought about it much, but I don't think I have a legal family tree" he continued looking up at Mingyu and Seungkwan with a face filled with the realisation "I came alone, right, and my parents had never left their farm" He finished, getting nods if understanding from the other two. 

Seokmin was the mystery that everyone tried to solve, even though he was an open book his memory made it hard for him to tell his stories. So far all they knew about him was that he had left home at the age of 11 when he had found out about the Saving Project and all that would happen. He had lived on a self-sustaining farm with his family, and they had no contact with the outside world until a family had traveled through their land and stopped by for shelter. They had then told them all about the Plan and how it wasn't too late for Seokmin and his siblings to get a spot in the final. 

The Lee family didn't want their children to leave, and they saw it as lies, there was no such thing as The Plan, in their eyes. However, Seokmin didn't want them to have lived for anything. He decided that he would be the one that made it and that he would honor his family, and if all was still a lie, he would still have left his home and prison. He was the only one in the group that had never shown one single drop of regret what so ever, he might be seen as a dumb man, but he was wiser than them all. 

"What the fuck is a t-b-s?" Wonwoo asked confused as he tried to decipher the recipe, so far his team had only managed to turn on the oven successfully and were now trying to actually make the bread. He might have said that they were winning, but they were far behind. 

"Just pour in what you think is the right amount," Minghao said from over Wonwoos shoulder where he had been standing and reading the recipe "It can't be that much of a difference if you use too much or too little," He continued. 

"Yeah you're probably right," Wonwoo said as he took the container of flour and dumped almost all of it into the bowl, followed by a spoonful of yeast and admittedly way too much sugar. They had all already come to agree that the two bread loaves, or bread clumps, might not turn out the best, but the important part was that they had fun. 

The one that had the most fun was most likely Jihoon since he didn't have to compete he could just diss everyone, no matter the team, and he wouldn't get shit for it, because he was the judge! This was, without doubt, one of his highlights for the week, he had not had so much fun. 

“That looks like the thing Hansol threw up after finding that expired chocolate milk” Jihoon scoffed when he saw the dought that Wonwoo was scoring before putting it into the oven. It wasn't so much a solid smooth dough clump as it was a bumpy stale and dry chunk. 

“I didn't know it was expired” Hansol yelled from over the room as he had heard his name and quickly figured out what it was they were talking about “It didn't have an expiration date” he tried to defend himself, but he knew that he usually does stupid things, and he was proud to admit it. 

“Hansol, honey,” Seungkwan said as he walked up to the younger and patted his head as if he was talking to a kid “it didn't have an expiration date because the carton had been laying in a fridge full of moldy food and it was almost degraded” he continued in a soft low voice, a kind of voice someone could hear without context and think it was used towards a small child that doesn't understand something “and you don't eat stuff you find in an abandoned school!” Seungkwan finished as he whacked the back of Hansol's head with a spoon that he had been hiding behind his back. ‘

“Yours isn't much better,” Jihoon said to Seungkwan as he watched Mingyu put their bread into the oven, a happy smile on his lips, he truly lived for making fun of his friends, this was his way of showing his appreciation if he didn't like someone he wouldn't talk to them “It looks like roadkill,” he said snickering a bit even though it wasn't the best diss “which is disturbing since bread isn't supposed to look like it has fur” 

“Just fuck off will you,” Seungkwan said threateningly as he lifted up his spoon in a menacing manner “ill make your face look like roadkill” He continued not as confident in his comeback but still glaring. 

“So so children, calm down,” Joshua said as he put his arms around both Seungkwans and Jihoons shoulders “no need to get feisty” he continued while pushing them out from behind the counter where they were previously standing. 

“15 minutes left,” Wonwoo said as he hoisted himself up on the counter where he had planned on spending the remainder of the time the bead thing was in the oven. The others were quick to follow his lead and find a spot somewhere to sit or stand, most people stood up and leaned against the counters or they were Seungceol who sat on the floor. 

The time passed rather quickly as the thirteen boys of project 17 made small talk. Seungkwan and Minghaon had fallen into a deep conversation regarding when something was old enough to count as archeology or if it's just piratry and grave robbing. While Seokmin, Joshua, and Mingyu were having a singing contest on who could sing the most nursery rhyme songs or overall childhood songs. Seungcheol and Jun had once again started to argue about whether or not it was pedophilia “for a child to fuck an adult” as Junhui would put it. 

When the alarm sounded from Wonwoo's wrist he and Seokmin were quick to stand up and take out the bread loaves from the ovens. They then both tried to as nicely as possible cut and display the bread on two plates. All while Jihoon had dragged a chair to one of the counters where he was sitting, with each team on one side of him. They had all put on serious faces and were all silent, they would win, they all thought. Wonwoo and Seokmin presented their bread at the same time. 

“This looks so disgusting,” Jihoon said as he poked Wonwoo's team bread, it had solidified completely from the heat and was no longer just dry, it was a rock. But Jihoon broke off a piece and ate it, not giving any kind of facial expression and moving on to Seokmins bread “and this looks like an abomination” to which Seungkwan answered with a disapproving mumble, but Jihoon took a bite from their bread as well.

“They were both as terrible” Jihoon started as everyone was slowly leaning forward to hear the final announcement “but team Wonwoo's was the least bad” he finished as he held out a hand to the team to his right to announce them as the official winners. The winners then jump and hug each other and say things like “suck on that “ to the other team. Soonyoung who took it a step further hugged Jihoon as well as giving him a sloppy cheek kiss in joy before he went back to high fiving Minghao and Joshua. 

Jihoon was left in shock since no one ever had dared to do that, and Soonyoung would be sure to regret it, but at the same time his face had become red in anger, and perhaps other feelings. 

“Not fair!” Seungkwan said as he had studied Jihoon after their loss “you only gave them the win because of Soon!” he continued pointing a blaming finger on Soonyoung as if they were two children once again fighting over something. Hansol was the one to silence Seungkwan by putting an arm around his shoulder. 

“He needs some dick” Hansol said understanding as if it was going to make Seungkwan any less furious “a man has to do what a man has to do” 


	4. Chapter 4

**_P17: official chat_ **

**_(In Peppa Pigs Memory)_ **

**Mingyu:** has anyone seen hao?

**Jeonghan:** no

**Pedophile:** no 

**Knodledge:** no

**Minghao:** yes

**Handsoap:** No

**Stale pice of gum:** no 

**Mingyu:** okey i dont know if you noticed but Hao literally siad yes 

**Mingyu:** so stop being annoying peices of shits 

**Minghao:** Shits

**Mingyu:** watch your fucking language 

**Chan:** what did you do to make him this mad bro

**Minghao:** nothing 

**Mingyu:** this bitch stole my fucking shirt and made it into a fucking art piece

**Handsoap:** which shirt

**Mingyu:** my white sweater 

**Minghao:** you never even use it 

**Mingyu:** I WAS SAVING IT 

**Minghao:**

**Minghao:** it looks better like this

**Mingyu:** THATS THE LIBRARY FLOOR IM COMMING FOR YOU YOUASSOLE 

**Minghao:** as if i would saty in one location for more than 5 minutes 

**Knodledge:** hes already sprinting down the halls 

**Pedophile:** yure dead if he finds you 

**Minghao:** im really not 

**Wonwoo:** last time mingyu was mad at him, Hao literally just pouted and he forgot everything 

**Minghao:** thats the perks of having a giant fall for you 

**Mingyu:** dont flatter yourself i just pitty you 

**Mingyu:** but youre dead when i find you

**Minghao:** youre really going to say that when im wearing your shirt 

**Minghao:** and your shirt only 

**Mingyu:** well

**Chan:** EW EW EW MAKE THEM STOP 

**Joshua:** for he love of god not you two too

**Jeonghan:** NO FUCKINGING PDA 

**Pedophile:** AND NO FUCKING IN GENERAL 

**Stale piece of gum:** and thats coming from slutcheol over here 

**“Chan” changed “Pedophiles name to “slutcheol”**

“You're so gonna die,” Mingyu said out loud when he entered the library. Of course, Minghao could have changed his hideout spot, but did he really not want to be found. When it came to Minghao and Mingyu's overall friendship the first rule was that they never meant what they said if they said it in a threatening way. “I know you're here, bitch” Mingyu continued as he made his way past all the bookshelves and the tables. 

The library is basically just a room, like all the others in the facility, with the window screen surrounding it all, with the control tablet by the entrance. While Mingyu tries to make his way, past the shelves, down to the furthest back the walls went from a soothing blue sky and flowery garden to pitch black. Causing the man to become rather dislocated in his surroundings. Finding one shelf he made sure to keep his hand on it in order to not walk into something else. Even if he was one of the tallest and biggest participants he was still one of the biggest scaredy cats. 

“I'm so going to kill you” he mustered through his gritted teeth, he was sure that he other was in the room, otherwise the lights and screen wouldn't have turned off “if you scare me I'm never going to talk to you ever again” Mingyu continued with his monologue while trying to make out shadows in the darkness. 

“Oh I wouldn't scare you, babe” Minghao said somewhere in the distance, making Mingyu look around frantically. Minghao was up to something and Mingyu had no clue about what he was up to. “I'm only here to make sure that you won't be mad at me” the hidden man continued with a voice dripping in fake sorrow and a bit of sarcasm. 

“I won't be if you turn on the lights” Mingyu continued before turning around frantically, feeling as if the other was behind him. But instead of being met with just darkness, he was met with a gust of wind, that smelled like cotton candy. 

“You ate my fucking candy didn't you,” Mingyu said with a scowl not even the slightest bit afraid anymore. He was so going to beat Minghao up. Doesn't matter how cute his face is, it's going to be ruined. “You little motherfucker” he growled the slightest. 

“You can taste it if you want,” Minghao said with a sweet voice from behind him “although I did eat all of it,” he said almost as if he was speaking his thoughts out loud “but that doesn't matter does it” he continued, this time Mingyu could feel his presence right in front of him. He could easily throw a swing and hit the other square in the face, but Minghao was fast, so it wouldn't happen. Instead, Mingyu just stood still waiting for what would happen. 

“Just fucking-” Mingyu said before being interrupted by Minghaos arms around his neck and the other's lips against his. Mingyu slowly placed his hands on the other's waist and pulled him in closer. He was still somewhat mad, but they both knew that this would happen, it always does. Minghao does something stupid and Mingyu runs after him. Either way, they always end up making out or more. Which none of them really complained about. 

“I'm still fuming,” Mingyu said after pulling apart a bit before kissing the other back again, biting his lower lip in a show of him actually being mad. 

Placing his hands in Mingyu's hair Minghao pulled apart and kissed the other's nose in apology. “ I do look good in your shirt though,” he said sweetly before peaking his lips. Mingyu could still not see anything, but Minghao could. And the sight before him was wonderful, just seeing Mingyu not be able to tower over him and act as if he owned everything, was a bliss to the other. “And you do look good when you can't see me,” he added with a slight laugh. 

“You're an asshole,” Mingyu said with a scowl “how can you even see in this darkness, you witch,” he said before taking ahold of Minghaos hand and starting to walk in the general direction towards the exit, Minghao following while also lacing their fingers together. 

“I just can” the other stated simply before he overtook the lead in order to not have them walk into a shelf “I don't know carrots or something,” he said shrugging. 

“You're a witch, you bitch,” Mingyu said before kicking the others shin and then darting off when he saw the exit and his chance to be the one in charge of hiding. 

“You're going down, Timber,” Minghao said with a low voice before he started to bolt to the staircase that led to the rooftop. Mingyu might not have taken that way but he always ended up there, they all knew there was something special with MIngy and the roof, so Minghao would use that to his advantage. He would slowly make his way upstairs and then find a comfy looking chair and just wait. 

Just how Minghao had calculated Mingyu sooner came rushing trough the rooftop door and jumped behind the pile of pillows on the artificial grass next to the tree, apparently he had not spotted Minghao in his chair. The older was currently trying to not laugh at the other's stupid tactics, as if his giant body was even covered by the pillows. 

Minghao slowly stood up from his sitting position and made his way around the tree, so that he was in Mingyu's blindspot, who was only staring at the door and stood behind the other. Minghao had to admit he was rather adorable when he acted stupid like this. The currently smiling man was contemplating over whether he should throw himself over the other and scare him, he decided against it since Mingyu has tendencies to hit before he thinks. Instead, he just gently tapped the other shoulder followed by a sly remark on the other's useless hiding spot. 

“You really are the worst at hide and seek,” Minghao said happily as Mingyu was trying to gather his composure, he had let out a scared scream when the other had poked his shoulder, and then he had wormed around for a solid ten seconds before he knew what was going on. 

“I hate you,” the taller said while he stood up and towered over the other with his eyebrows furrowed in anger “I seriously despise you how did you even get here before me and how did you hide so well,” he asked while he was rambling through his words, lisping the slightest, something he usually did when he was starting to become emotional on any level, sad, angry, just genuinely emotional. 

“I didn't hide, I was sitting right there,” Minghao said while pointing at the garden chair he had sat on while he watched Mingyu trying to be sneaky. “And I didn't even try to hide you know” he pointed out while poking Mingyu's side in an attempt to be annoying. Something the other answered by just swatting the others hand away before he started to head for the door without saying a word. 

“Wait where are you going?” Minghao asked before walking after the other

“To my bed,” Mingyu said with a cold vibe “I don’t feel like acting like a kid anymore,” he said while glaring the slightest at the older. 

Mingyu sure had a history of quickly switching moods, but this was very unlike him, Minghao thought as he took a hold of the other's hand in an attempt to calm him down. Instead of feeling Mingyu's soft hand which he had grown so acquainted with he felt a sting instead. Not in a specific area, his hand just started to sting and he made it known by letting out a quiet “ow” before he stopped in his steps to look at his hand. It had started to swell the slightest and was way redder than it usually was. 

Hearing the others quiet weep, after he had touched his hand, Mingyu turned around to look at him, thinking this was another of the olders stupid jokes, but instead he was met with Minghao looking down at his own hand that was drastically growing bigger and redder. 

“What happened?!” Mingyu asked in a panicked tone as he quickly walked over to the other to look at his hand. It looked as if someone had placed it directly in boiling water and then in a heap of poisonous plants. He tried to hold the others hand and examine it but Minghao was quick to pull it away with a panicked expression, followed by a sorrowful one, he didn't mean to act cold but it hurt to just think about it, so touching it would most likely hurt even more. Instead, the older took a deep breath as his eyes started to tear up a bit from the pain.    
  


“We need to find Jeonghan” Minghyu stated and gained an approving nod from Minghao who was trying to keep his calm as the readiness started to slowly climb its way up to his arm. Mingyu wasted no time and started to walk towards the door making sure to hold it open for the other without touching him. 

They swiftly made their way towards the nurse's office, which conveniently was located together with the other work offices, which was at the bottom floor right under the roof entrance. The elevator ride down was rather silent with Minghao trying to not cry and Mingyu trying to not scream in frustration over the others' pain. Seeing the older so momentarily broken hurt Mingyu more than it should. 

“How the fuck did this happen” was the first thing Jeonghan said when he saw the youngest balloon looking hand, “What could you possibly have done for this?” he said calmer while he tried to examine the hand, which was just answered in many small whales of pain from Minghaos side. 

“I just” Minghao stated before he bit his tongue to hold back a yelp when Jeonghan pressed down lightly on the swelling skin “I tried to hold Mingyu's hand and then it stung and now it's like this,” he said quickly in order to get it all out before he would become nonverbal from the pain. To him, it felt as if someone was repeatedly pouring boiling water over an already burned patch of skin. 

“Well, that's new,” Jeonghan said in a low voice before quickly pressing down something on his wrist and then walking over to his computer “I've never seen anything like this before,” he said worriedly as he tries to find the symptoms in the encyclopedia. 

“It's growing faster,” Mingyu whispered as he watched the redness and swelling visibly make its way up Minghaos overarm. “isn't there anything you can do to slow it down!” He said he panicked as he watched Minghaos face grow red from pain as he scrunched every muscle in his body in order to not scream. 

**“** I’m trying,” The oldest of the three said as he rummaged through his many cabinets to find whatever it was he was searching for “Mingyu can you go get Seungcheol” Jeonghan demanded witch a stern voice as he ripped off a piece of the fabric from one of the curtains that separated the two only hospital beds in his small office. He then proceeded to tie it tightly around Minghao's arm which caused the younger to scream out in pain. 

“I'm sorry Hao but I don't know what it is and I have to try and at least stop it from spreading,” he said before he quickly gave the other a shot of morphine in order to lessen the pain as much as possible. 

Minghao gave out a quick grunt of pain before he became unconscious, the pain was too much for his body to handle and all he could see before he passed out was a soft green light-emitting around Jeonghan who was hurriedly trying running around the room just trying to understand what was happening. His eyes closed and for a solid second he felt nothing but calm and peace, if this was how it felt to die, then it wasn't as bad as he had expected, he taught before he no longer had any awake thoughts. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Twitter: EvaEveSteve
> 
> Instagram:EvaEveSteve


	5. Chapter 5

“Open the fuck up,” Soonyoung said as he violently jumped on Jihoon's bed to wake him up and get his attention. Placing his legs either side of the younger's horizontal body. 

“You're already inside” Jihoon mumbled as he pulled the covers over his head and turned around to try and shake Soonyoung off of him. He was not in the mood to talk to him, he wasn't in the mood for anything, he almost wished he wasn't even inside the Main right now, but it was too late to wish, he could only act from now on. Of course, he could die, the thought had crossed his mind, many times the past few days, but he could never find a reason as to why it would only make things easier for him, but not fro the others. 

“You know what I mean, Ji,” Soonyoung said in the softest voice he had ever used with the other, as well as the nickname he never called Jihoon in front of him, he always used it behind his back, since the younger would end his life if he heard it. He didn't care right now, he knew he needed to hear the words that indicated the love he needed. “Please talk to me” he pleaded the slightest while placing his hand on why he presumed it was the other's leg and drew small circles with his thumb. 

“Why?” Jihoon asked as he sat up for what must have been the first time in at least 12 hours “why would you want to talk to me? I almost ratted you out” he continued, his voice growing smaller as his eyes slowly started to fill with tears. To which Soonyoung was quick to pull the other into a tight hug, rocking him slowly from side to side. They had never hugged before, but they both knew that it was needed. It was all that was needed for Jihoon to burst into tears, followed by quiet sobs. 

“Hey no it's okay” Soonyoung tried to feature the other as he hushed him lightly “you didn't and we all know you wouldn't” he continued while he stroked the hair of the other lightly “you're our family, Ji” he stated matter of factly, and he knew that the younger knew that as well but he needed to say it as many times as he must “you're my family and I would have supported you and followed you no matter your decision,” he said his voice trailing off as he spoke. 

The shorter boy was only listening, he didn't feel like talking, he just needed to be close to someone, and that someone being Soonyoung made it a tad better. He knew he could never tell on them because it would most likely mean their deaths, and he could never live with himself if that was the case. He could also not live with himself knowing that his whole life was a lie and all the goals he had worked towards were a lie. He knew that he would have to live with himself, either way, he still had his family, his real family, and he had Soonyoung. Someone who had more often than not got on his nerves, but he also brought him more happiness than anyone ever had. Whenever he had free time before the program, he would still just use it on studying, but now, he had someone who could teach him fun things, someone with who he could learn life with. The thought of him ever losing Soonyoung made him cry the slightest bit more, warm tears rolling down his cheeks while he placed his arms around Soonyoung and hugged him, for the first time. Hiding his face in the other shirt and taking in the moment, it might not be happy but it would be memorable for sure. 

“You need food, Ji,'' Soonyoung stated slowly while softly removing the hair that had gotten stuck between the other's forehead and his own shirt. “And you need some light as well” he continued while placing his hand under the other chin and raising his head in order to look him in the eyes, the red eyes that had not seen light in days and the eyes that had been crying for longer than they should have. It pained him, pained Soonyoung, seeing the one he cared for the most be so vulnerable. He softly tried to dry the others' tears with both of his thumbs before swiftly seizing the moment and lowering his own head in order to kiss the others forehead softly. He might regret it later but Jihoon needed it, he needed all conformations of love around him, and there's nothing wrong with a bro kissing his bro on the forehead, Soonyoung thought to make himself not feel like a pile of mush. 

“I say that we go get you food and light, hmm” He tried to save the moment by acting as if nothing happened, but he could see the shock in Jihoons eyes, but it didn't seem like a bad kind of shock. 

Since Jihoon had missed this laundry time this week he had to wear one of Soonyoungs hoodies with on repair of pajama pants that he apparently had forgotten about. He didn't look quite well, to say the least, but it didn't matter it wasn't as if someone would care. However Jihoon would do anything in order for him to not look anyone in the eyes, so he made sure to have the hood over his head and look down, which would also cause him to not be able to see as well as he might need. He almost walked straight into one of the pillars in the common room that divides the 17 dormitories and the cafeteria. The almost crash caused Soonyoung to laugh lightly before he took hold of the other's hand in order to lead him towards the food. 

“I know you’ll kill me for saying this” Soonyoung says in a soft voice, knowing that he won't actually have any consequences for what he is about to say “but you do look very cute” he cooed while swinging is and Jihoons hands a bit just to be extra annoying. 

“When I'm back on track I am going to end you,” Jihoon said in a threatening way as he dug his nails into Soonyoungs hand as an extra dramatic touch “don’t underestimate me, Kwon,” the somewhat flustered man said while trying to hide even more in the hood. 

He had not addressed the other with his last name in quite some time, it was something he, Soonyoung, and Jeonghan had done since they first met. It began with them really just not wanting to acknowledge that the others were people, and more like servants. From there it just became their thing, but as they started to come closer to the day where they would lose their freedom, momentarily, they just stopped. 

“You want to stay here while I get food?” Soonyoung asked while letting go of the other's hand and looking down at him “we can eat on the roof in peace” he explained, since he knew that Jihoon was not in the mood to talk to people. 

“Yeah, sure” Jinoon answered while hiding his hands in the long sleeves of the hoodie. Soonyoung nodded in response and started walking towards the cafeteria vending machines.

While pressing the button for today's lunch meal he could swear that he heard Jihoon say “thank you, Soons” something he would never say, plus he was way too far away for Soonyoung to hear him say it. In confusion, he turned around and met Jihoon's eyes and gave him a smile and mouthed “no worries” and hoped for the other to understand, but from the look of it, the younger only got more confused. 

Soonyoung got both trays, one in each hand as he tries to balance them to the best of his abilities without spilling the mushy soup all over the cafeteria flooring. He had done it before and it was not a pleasant experience trying to scrub the concrete clean, what he did learn that day, however, was that the concrete used to build the Main sucked up all kinds of liquids, in case of natural disasters of any kind, all the liquid would flow through and down to the basement sewers. Jihoon had explained it to him way too many times since Soonyoung couldn't understand why the soup was gone but the pieces of greens weren't. Either way, he made his way across the floor and over to Jihoon handing him the tray. 

"The roof?" Jihoon asked simply looking over at the door that led to the corridor and to the staircase and elevator to all levels of the Main, except for the basement since no one was supposed to be there unless they were one of the elders. 

Soonyoung nodded and started walking towards the corridor with Jihoon behind him. 

"Where are you going?" Jihoon asked as he walked up to walk beside Soonyoung instead of behind him. 

"The roof?" Soonyoung said and looked at the other "Like you said?" he continued confused, Jihoon had never been one to forget saying things so him questioning his own words made the older quite worried. 

"Oh, but I didn't say anything?" Jihoon questioned while slowing down a bit. 

"You did," The older of the two said sure of what he had heard "well doesn't matter I thought you said it, maybe I just know you too well" he tried to play it off as if it hadn't happened but he was certain that he had heard the others voice. What if Jihoon had actually made himself sick somehow by just laying around, surely that couldn't be the case since it's only been a week, but Soonyoung couldn't help but worry. 

They just walked in silence towards the roof, passing by the many other corridors, some leading towards the other project groups, others towards extra rooms that had been added just in case, extra rooms for work and specialization. Soonyoungs favorite being the room dedicated to the study of the mind of a human. It might be worded that there was a specific room for that, but then again the Main was the size of four football fields placed in a square, and then that time fifteen floors, it was huge, to say the least. It was only made for three project groups as well, 15, 16, and project group 17. And it had to be equipped with everything needed for a human to not go insane and to still stimulate the brain and body enough for them to not turn into big blobs of fat. So there were many assets they were all thankful for, a swimming pool for exercise and relaxation, a running course and many other things. So for there to be a room dedicated to ever SF:s special talents, or assets, was a must. Soonyoung had his brain room and Jihoon, for example, had his VR room where he could construct buildings from scratch, or play Tetris, whatever suited him. All of the rooms were on a different floor from their offices and indifference to their offices the specific rooms were open to all if anyone ever felt as if they wanted to learn anything new. 

It only took them a solid three minutes to travel to the cafeteria to the elevator and up the ten floors. They both took their places in one bean bag each, still not saying anything as they started to unpack the food. They always had soup, something both Soonyoung and Jeonghan had pointed out as a potential factor for problems in the future, but of course, they ant get every thought through with the elders, and the soup problem was one of them. 

“This is so bland,” Jihoon said after his first spoonful of the green-ish mush. He had quickly dropped the spoon back into the plastic bowl, just sadly looking at it. 

“If I didn't know better I would expect a pair of eyes to bubble up any moment” Soonyoung had said while poking around in the watery mess. A joke which Jihoon had laughed lightly at. 

“How cute,” The younger said while still looking down at his bowl. A response that caused Soonyoung to freeze up a bit. 

“I'm sorry?” he asked just looking at the other in school. To which Jihoon just looked up at him with a questioning look. 

“You called me cute,” Soonyoung said, still not knowing what to make out of the situation, he was the one who used to be annoying and sappy by making remarks Jihoon hated, such as using the word cute. 

“No, I didn't,” Jihoon continued to say, even more, confused than before. He had dropped his spoon completely, no longer just playing with it in his food. “ I haven't said anything more than that the soup is bland?” he said, or more asked. 

“No you said  _ How cute _ ” Soonyoung said stronger this time, he knew he wasn't going crazy, and Jihoon could not just forget that he called his best friends cute. “I know you did” 

“No I didn't say it,” Jihoon said while lowering his head a bit, “I thought it though” he continued his voice lacking in tone before he looked back at the other while furrowing his brow. 

“No you said it '' Soonyoung said almost angry at this point, he was tired of Jihoon just ignoring everything. “I can't read your mind now can I” he exclaimed before he took a deep breath and apologized for losing his temper. 

“Sooyoung close your eyes and don't open them until I say so,” Jihoon said with a calm voice as he looked the other in the eyes. Soonyoung did as told and closed his eyes, still mad but willing to do Jihoons meditation exercise, or what he thought was a meditation exercise. “Now open them,” he said, not with any instructions in between, to which Soonyoung complies and looks at the other confused. 

Jihoon who hadn't said anything, other than the instruction to close his eyes, looked over at the other to see if he was playing some kind of game. Obviously Soonyoung had heard Jihoon's second instruction to open his eyes, but no words had been spoken. 

“Now look at my mouth” Jihoon continued watching as the others gaze flickered from his eyes to his mouth, then he continued ´, this time while not saying anything “ _ can you hear me?” _ to which he saw Soonyoungs mouth open in shock before he flickered between Jihoons eyes and lips. “ _ I think you can read my mind”  _

“Yeah, no shit I see that, “ Soonyoung said tuned “but how?” he asked before his train of thoughts was interrupted with the baby pink and mint green colored light from their wrists lit up thor faces. 

**_P17: official chat_ **

**_(In Peppa Pigs Memory)_ **

**Mingyu:** Seungcheol Jeonghans office now Minghao is seriously hurt

**Pedophile:** i dont want to be a part of your games leave me out of this its not nice to joke about people being hurt 

**Mingyu:** FOR FUCKS SAKE IM NOT JOKING HE MIGHT BE DYING FOR ALL I KNOW NOW PLESSE GET THE FUCK OVER HERE 

“This seems serious,” Jihoon said as they both viewed the exchange between the oldest and Mingyu. “Maybe we should head over there as well?” Jihoon asked, a bit worried about the safety of Minghao. 

“I think we should” Was all Soonyoung said before standing up and abandoning his food. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Twitter: EvaEveSteve
> 
> Instagram:EvaEveSteve


	6. Chapter 6

“I wonder if Mingyu caught up to Hao,” Jun said while looking out over the view of the stormy waters presented on the screen window in front of them. 

He would look at anything, but since he figured out he could use it to watch old explorations tapes as a part of the natural selection he had been very interested in the ocean. He himself had never seen anybody of water more than the small lake they all had stumbled over during their nearly deadly field trip a few years ago. 

“Of course, they must be making out somewhere” Wonwoo confirmed while turning the page of his book, one about the ancient language of Sanskrit, one no one has ever heard since it went extinct before Latin was even being used on a regular basis.

The younger of the two always found a way to engulf himself in some kind of new historical knowledge, even if it was something as simple, and maybe stupid, as the discovery of the butter knife, to something extraordinary like the first theories regarding quantum physics, either way, he would read it all. 

The pair had been slouching around all day, procrastinating their many assignments by hiding out in the other project 17 dorms, the one which was not theirs. There they had been, in almost the same positions for hours, from the early hours of dawn, or well what they thought might be dawn, up until the late afternoon. Junhui used Wonwoo as his personal head pillow while he philosophized by himself with his council of many thoughts. Wonwoo used Junhui's forehead as his personal bookrest, where he continued to learn about the older languages and their insignificance in today's world. 

“I'm starting to get bored” Junhi stated as he sat up from his previous position, just observing the now calm, dark waters covering the wall in front of the couch. “We’ve been doing nothing for hours” he continued with a dramatic sigh to end his presentation with absolutely nothing. 

“You have been doing nothing for hours” Wonwoo corrected him as he continued to dart his gaze from one word to the other while taking in the many different facts “I've been doing historical research,” he said with a smug smile, letting his pretentiousness overflow into an actual conversation, instead of staying a mear thought in his head. 

“Well, you do that for fun so it doesn't count as  _ Historical research _ ” Junhui mocked while snatching the book from the other’s hands, making sure to not close it in order for the other to find the open book on the right side later, even if Wonwoo already had memorized the page number which he was currently reading on. 

“Hey, not cool,” Wownoo said giving the older a cold look “I don’t pause your music while you're in the middle of a dance,” he said sulking a bit, to which Junhui only laughed before ruffling the hair of the other as he stood up. 

Before he could take any steps towards the drawer which he most likely was headed towards, the tall figure came falling down towards the end of the coffee table. He had managed to step on one of the small globes Jihon had been using to test out his theories of spherical living spaces. An action that would cause Junhui to lose balance and fall headfirst into the edge of the glass table which neatly decorated the cold concrete floor. Wonwoo couldn't act, frozen in the moment he watched as Jun's head bounced off the edge, shattering the table and leaving the man lying face down in the concrete while a small pool of dark red blood quickly grew larger around his head. 

Feeling the ruffle against his hair Wonwoo quickly grabbed ahold of Jun’s arm dragging him towards himself. Not knowing what was going on his eyes watered and he was almost sobbing before he realized that nothing had happened. Jun was lying confused, and in an uncomfortable position, against him and there was no blood, nor glass pieces on the floor. Everything was as it should be. 

“What are you doing?” Junhui asked with concern before he heard the first sob escape from Wonwoo's mouth, one he himself tried to cover up as the tears quickly streamed down his cheeks “What's wrong what happened?!” 

“I, You, you died” Wonwoo got out in between his sobs, which he tried to suppress, but it was quite a traumatizing image to have in his head, one of the loves of his life slowly bleeding to death beneath his feet. 

“What are you talking about?” The older asked scarcely, starting to worry that the other was slowly going insane, or that he had finally lost it “I'm right here” he continued, wrapping his arms around Wonwoo’s shivering frame trying his best to at least make the other calm down a bit. 

Wonwoo tried to gather himself, nothing had happened. It was all good, but the picture of Jun’s limp body in front of him wouldn't leave his head. The strong smell of iron which quickly had traveled up into his own system was still there, surrounding his head. The sound that the older had let out, his vocal cords twitching, making his last breath sound as if he was having a stroke, or as if he was choking. The fast twitching of his body before it all froze, all his muscles giving up, also leading to the abhorrent smell of feces. 

The poor man lost it all so quickly, even though he technically didn't, and Jun would never live or die that terrible death, but Wonwoo saw it, and he cannot explain why he did, and he most likely would never be able to either. 

“Hey calm down,” Jun said sternly before he shook the other harshly, finally meeting Wonwoo's eyes, which were horrified. 

He could feel his breathing and how it was slowly picking up its pace, his own lungs twisting and turning inside of him, excruciating pain filling his chest while he tried to chip for air, even though he was breathing fine. He scratched at his throat in a frantic attempt to open it up and help him fill his lungs. His head clouding over, he was staring straight into Junhui’s eyes which were slowly realizing the seriousness of the situation. Wonwoo could see Jun’s lips moving in panic, but he couldn’t hear anything, he could only hear the beating of his own heart. He couldn't grasp the situation, he couldn't help himself, not that he had any clear thought, to begin with. 

The panic spread through Junhui's whole body when he could feel the younger man melting away into nothing but an empty shell. He quickly hoisted the other up, laying him down on the hard concrete as he tried to shake him awake, checking his pulse and establishing that the other was still alive, and had most likely fainted. It didn't bring him calm, but it decreased the panic which was rising inside of him. Standing up he almost lost his balance when he took a step back. One of Jihoons architectural mishaps had rolled out from under the couch, but he managed to catch himself before he fell forward. 

He was about to call Jeonghan when his, and Wonwoo's wrist, lit up. 

**_P17: official chat_ **

**_(In Peppa Pigs Memory)_ **

**Mingyu:** Seungcheol Jeonghans office now Minghao is seriously hurt

**Slutcheol:** i dont want to be a part of your games leave me out of this its not nice to joke about people being hurt 

**Mingyu:** FOR FUCKS SAKE IM NOT JOKING HE MIGHT BE DYING FOR ALL I KNOW NOW PLESSE GET THE FUCK OVER HERE 

He stared down at his wrist in shock, what were the odds for both Minghao and Wonwoo to need medical help at the same time. But he scratched all thoughts and quickly sent out a new message, he needed help to get Wonwoo to the nurse’s office as quick as possible before he choked on his own tongue. 

**_P17: official chat_ **

**_(In Peppa Pigs Memory)_ **

**Stale piece of gum:** Wonwoo had some kind of panic attack and fainted and i don't know what to do 

**Soap:** Me and Soonyoung are on our way to the nurse office where are you we’ll bring a stretcher and help you 

**Stale piece of gum:** In your dorm 

**Joshua:** I'm on my way to the nurse as well witch Seok he started growing a leaf 

**Knodledge:** i'm sorry what 

**Joshua:** Everybody Just get over to the nurse, we need to talk 

Wonwoo went back to kneeling next to his boyfriend, placing his heavy head in his own lap. Placing the back of his hand underneath the other's nostrils just to make sure that he was still breathing. The only ones in the 17 project unit who knew how to control sick people or hurt people were Jeonghan and potentially Soonyoung, Jun was definitely not one of them. He did however know that there was a chance that an unconscious human might choke on his own tongue. So in lack of other knowledge, he placed his middle finger in the other’s mouth making sure to press down on his tongue. Something which would not be mentioned when he woke up. 

“Is he okay?” Soonyoung said worriedly when he threw open the door to their own dorm. Carrying the stretcher between him and Jihoon they made their way around the corner, urging Wonwoo to stand up and leave space for them to carry him on to it. 

“I hope so,” Jun said his body tense “He just snapped and said I died” the older started to try and explain while watching as Jihoon and Soonyoung swiftly secured Wonwoo to the stretcher “then he started to breathe hard and I couldn't contact him then he fainted,” he said in a shaky voice as he tried to calm himself, but he finally realized what was going on, and with the other two there he could let his guard down a bit without risking Wonwoo's safety. So he let a few shaky and nervous tears stream down his face. 

“Sounds weird” Jihoon mumbled “the you-died-part” he specified before making eye contact with Soonyoung and nodding in response. Both steadily lifting up the light board with their friend upon it. 

“He didn't explain anything before he just I don't know-” Junhui started while moving away in order to follow the others out of the dorm. 

“Panicked” Soonyoung filled in “Sounds to me as if he had his first panic attack” he explained while they made their way down the empty halls. Leading them towards the elevator to take them up four levels to the ninth floor and the nurse’s office.

“But why, it came from nowhere?” Junhui asked, mostly to himself but also to anyone who had an answer “and the whole I-Died thing?” They exit the elevator, Soonyoung, and Jihoon walking first with Junhui in tow, trying to not expect the worst. 

“What the actual fuck is happening,” Seungcheol said as he saw the two carrying the stretcher “first Minghao, then Jeongan, now Won and Seokmin,” he said almost angry as he held the doors open in order for the unconscious to be brought into the almost cramped room. “Stay here,” the oldest said to Junhui, as well as Soonyoung and Jihoon as they walked back out. 

“But Wonwoo” Junhui said almost on the verge of crying again as he looked pleadingly at the older. 

“He’ll be fine, Jeonghan” he stated as he made a grimace, one which could be interpreted as if the older was tired or as if something just was, off “he’ll do what he can do” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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